FRIDAY JULY 20 2018
Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and more all night!!
Dj Adrian”ACE” Lopez & Dj Ivan “MINGO”
Appetizers,cash bar Drink Specials.
Doors open 8:00pm boat Sails 10:00 Sharp
18 older welcome ID please
$20.00 cover.
SEE YA ON THE DANCE FLOOR!!!!!
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1096402213844110/
The Chicano Latino Advisory Committee will be holding its first meeting of the year!
Location: Evans Welcome Center (formerly Elmhurst Elementary School).
Address: 2400 Pattengill Rd. Lansing, Michigan 48910
Date: Thursday, August 23, 2018
Time: 1:00pm to 2:30pm
The Chicano Latino Advisory Committee was formed in 1972 by the Lansing School District by parents for parents to advise the Lansing School Board of Education on issues that deal with the Latino Community. It continues to this day as a resource and as a voice for Latino parents and Latino students alike. For more information please contact Sein Paul Benavides at 517-303-7001.
LLEAD of Michigan has a great fall conference planned for Friday, October 12, 2018, our theme is…….
” AQUI ESTAMOS: IT’S TIME!”
To be held at the Lansing Center in downtown Lansing. Keynote speaker will be well known advocate:
Jose Angel Gutierrez
The agenda includes workshops on various topics of interest including immigration, census, college prep, and more. I have attached a Save the Date for your convenience for sharing. We are also seeking sponsors at this time. Registration starts September 1, 2018, at LLEAD. org.
FRIDAY JULY 20 2018
Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and more all night!!
Dj Adrian”ACE” Lopez & Dj Ivan “MINGO”
Appetizers,cash bar Drink Specials.
Doors open 8:00pm boat Sails 10:00 Sharp
18 older welcome ID please
$20.00 cover.
SEE YA ON THE DANCE FLOOR!!!!!
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/768349453554516/
TODAY’S ELECTION RESULTS ARE IN AND THE KIDS HAVE SPOKEN!!!
Ice Cream Flavors and their votes:
Strawberry 33 Votes
Lemon 23 Votes
Chocolate 18 Votes
Vanilla 18 Votes
All write in votes:
Strawberry Lemon 13 Votes
Mint Chocolate 2 Votes
Blue Raspberry 1 Vote
Apple 1 Vote
Orange 1 Vote
Superman 1 Vote
Cookies and Cream 1 Vote
Rainbow 1 Vote
Pothole (yes a young man voted for this) 1 Vote
A big thank you to all the parents and kids who stopped by and found us through Facebook or just happened to stop by. We thought we would have a little fun during the election year and allow the kids to benefit and actually get to use a real voting booth.
Much thanks to the Organizations of Lansing Cesar for Chavez and Cafecito Caliente for putting this together. Also a big shout out to the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement of Greater Lansing Chapter for supplying the “very real” voting booths and staff to help the kids vote and receive their “I Voted” sticker. Especially want to thank Mark and Tommy from Arctic Corner and their staff for working with us on what we felt was a good and cool learning day for kids. Looks like we have an annual event!
Every child under the age of 12 will be invited to vote for the favorite flavor of chocolate, lemon or vanilla ice cream and receive a “I Voted” sticker. They then will receive a free small ice cream cone of their choice. This will happen between the hours of 3pm and 7pm. Every hour we will go on Facebook live showing which flavor ice cream is winning the election with a final tally being reported at about 7:15pm.
With the elections coming up and the deadline to register coming quick on Monday, July 9, 2018, Lansing for the Cesar E. Chavez organization and the Cafecito Caliente Group would like to help educate the young people in our community on how to vote. We can do this by partnering with the Arctic Corner ice cream shop which is located in Old Town one block from the entrance to the Cesar E. Chavez Plaza.
The goal is to educate young voters of our city how simple it is to vote and to take pride in voting for something (or in an real election someone) they want to win.
Recently I happened to catch only a small portion of the Senior Citizens end of the year picnic at Frances Park in Lansing. On a beautiful 70 degree day, Fr. Fred Thelen led off with the Mass, followed by everyone’s favorite Mexican Bingo, and then on to some socializing and food. A group of about 60-65 Seniors mixed with a few of us under 65 years of age made for a smile filled day. I struggled to take pictures that I will one day regret. Or will I? I had the chance to sit with Evita who at the age of 99 continues to amaze and inspire us all. She continues to sing in the choir and is a role model for serving Jesus in a time when many can’t seem to lend a hand for twenty minutes to help their Church.
My very own prima Maria Elena mentioned to me that we always embrace at Church, and the fish frys but we never get much chance to talk. In our 15 minutes of conversation, I realized that I had graduated with her daughter who was a good friend of mine in high school. I had no clue that Dolores who I knew was my cousin, was Maria Elena’s daughter. I suddenly felt more connected to family and at the same time sorry that I had missed out on better hugs, conversations and memories.
This all took away time from snapping pictures for Cafecito and perhaps future generations who might happen to stumble upon this little website of mine. Those moments are gone and as the saying goes, tomorrow is never promised. But, in an age where “the photo” provides content for Facebook, Instagram, websites, Snapchat etc., we sometimes forget that the emotions, the feelings of the moment, the people, are more important than any picture can provide. Don’t misunderstand me, we one day will look at loved ones through these photos and remember their voices, their hearts and their souls and perhaps even shed tears of sadness and joy at the same time. Those photos will become precious and valuable. But to feel someone’s heart, to share what they have experienced when that person is in their 70’s, 80’s or like Evita who is 99 years young, is priceless. Almost addictive as you suddenly want to spend hours listening to them. Hearing what their soul has to say. No photograph can give you that.
These Senior Citizens that showed up this day, represent such a small percentage of the Seniors that make up our community and our lives. Over the past several years through the things I do, I have come to admire a few families in the Lansing area as they seem to embrace the older generations better than most. They go camping, bowling, out to eat, celebrate birthdays in groups of 30 to 40, travel to watch grandkids play soccer, baseball, softball or bowl. They go to the casinos and bailes together to keep everyone’s spirit young. You can see in the grandkids eyes the love and respect they have for their elders that sadly to other families is a thing of the past. Although those families don’t realize it, te quiero mucho.
Whether it was Sra. Licha Patino who each week gave me a kiss on the check and an embrace reminding me to keep paying attention to los jovenes because they need to know people care about them, or Sr. Juan Mendez who constantly encouraged me to keep focused on young people as one day, they might leave the Church. Or Sr. Bobillo who was willing to tell the Church community that Sein might be young, but he is a leader as if he were my campaign manager. And actually, for a Church council election, he was my manager and thanks to him, I won. They were just three of the biggest supporters I had back in the Youth Ministry days of the 1980’s. They gave me love unconditionally. Kind of Christlike que no? I so miss them.
Fittingly, I have no clue on how to end this writing. I simply don’t want to see anything written about Senior Citizens that has an ending as their influence on me, and others has no end – off my soapbox
After exiting the Michigan Princess last Friday night from the Spring version of “Salsa Above the Water, one has to wonder what could Adrian “Ace” Lopez do with an even bigger venue? It appeared there were about 250-275 people. I have always been so impressed with Salsa and the beautiful people who display their talents on the dance floor. Anytime you combine almost 300 people, plenty of people who don’t know each other and an open bar, well, your asking for trouble. But Adrian seems to attract a great crowd that only seems interested in the stylish moves, having a good time and taking advantage of a unique environment. The Michigan Princess is a classic replica of a 19th century steam boat which makes it completely different from other venues.
Congrats to Adrian “Ace” Lopez for providing a great night of entertainment for the Lansing community and of course the many who drive in from other cities near and far for the evening. Adrian will run two more of these in 2018. One is July and the last one in September. On Facebook, type in “Salsa Above the Water” to find out when the July one is held, or you can check back on the Cafecito website as I will usually post details for his events.
Tech en la Casa celebrated another edition of what this writer calls my favorite non-profit by having a recognition night for the students who participated in the Spring classes. Also recognized were the people who help make this all happen. Founded in 2011, like many Michigan residents, when there is a problem one works on finding a solution. These are the sentiments of retired Lansing School District administrator and teacher, Andrea Rodriguez who wrote a $19,000 grant to begin a new bilingual English/Spanish computer course for Spanish-speaking parents at Cristo Rey Community Center.
The technology project offered by Cristo Rey Community Center is made possible by a grant from the Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters Resource Sharing Program. Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters is a religious community of women dedicated to proclaiming the Word of God, fostering justice, standing in solidarity with the poor and promoting the development of leaders.
Although no one qualified to graduate from the program, there were quite a few students who took time from their busy lives and schedules to attend some of the classes. The hope is that they return to finish what they started in the fall term. The program teaches basic computer skills to the Spanish community although it is bilingual. Many of the students are people who just haven’t had the opportunity to learn how to use a computer, so learning email, Skype, social media has given so many people in the Lansing area different ways to communicate with friends, family and especially loved ones who might live in other States, or even other countries.
So why is this my favorite non-profit? Because it closes the gap in those communication lines not only long distance, but within the city. I have personally met people in this program who felt left out of the community or as one named Ingrid once said upon her graduation, “I now feel like I have a voice in the community”. She felt left out and disconnected in her own city. About ten days after this Tech Night, I ran into Ingrid and her husband Chris dancing the night away on the “Salsa On the Water” that was held on the Michigan Princess. And, uh, they can dance!
The TECH Three-tiered Goal:
1. To teach parents/guardians to gain basic computer skills to support their
children’s academic achievement.
2. To connect students in elementary and secondary school to parents/guardians
and to promote confidence to improve behavior and academic achievement.
3. To motivate university students (undergraduate and graduate) to complete
their studies through mentoring opportunities and understanding the
importance of their role in serving the community.
When a program can not only teach skills, but offer a way to become more connected to family and friends, it becomes a program that offers life to peoples personal lives. It offers opportunities to grow and to share their own personal stories. And let’s face it. We all have a story to tell, these folks just didn’t have many people to share their story with and now they do. Ingrid and Chris, whose daughter dances folkloric dance with a local group, now feel like Lansing is their home. And I have never asked them, but did Ingrid really believe she only signed up to learn basic computers skills?
For more information on Tech en la Casa:
On Facebook: Tech en la Casa
The Tech website: Tech el la Casa
Or call the Cristo Rey Community Center at 517-372-4700